Lean
Post by Mike Gugger
This is the third post in a series where I will discuss the top five things to be cognizant of today (or in the not too distant future) on your shop floor. Read the first two posts, Brain Drain and Optimization.
You are the director of your company’s Lean initiatives. Great! Where does your Lean implementation stand? Have you value stream mapped your processes? Where is that 5-S board now – the one that was such a big deal a year ago when you started on your Lean journey?
You delegated that responsibility you say? Hmmm…Lean in your plant is now “dead in the water” so that delegation approach worked, right? You cannot delegate this activity. If you want Lean to stick in your organization you must be willing to walk that walk. By delegating the activities you are sending the message that you have much more important things to work on and this is just something on the side. Time and experience have taught me that this approach will not work – Lean must be ingrained into the culture and become THE way things are done.
The only way to get that to happen is to show (don’t tell) your people how important this is by living it yourself. Also, when that Kaizen event happens you need to be personally involved. Consider the message this sends; “Wow, our CEO/President/Owner was in our cell with a broom cleaning the place up!” Do you think your workers will see how important Lean is to you personally through that action? They most certainly will.
How about your personal space? Is your office reflective of a Lean approach? When someone walks in can the see the effects of your Lean commitment? You need to constantly reinforce that message both in what you do and what you say.
MG
